I can go a week,too. I went 18 months once. But when I take the first glass, I might as well be on the 10th glass, blacking out, sleeping like ****, and full of self-hatred in the morning. I don't like labels, and I'm pretty solitary (not that into being in group settings), and I let both of those keep me from AA. I don't know what I hate worse -- not being able to enjoy a nice glass or two of wine like a "normal" person or the fact that self-hatred after I binge (and I always do) is taking over my life. Am I an alcoholic? Well the answer seems obvious, but I don't care about the label anymore. I want my life back, and the only way for me to do it is to stop drinking forever. Thankfully I found this site, AVRT, and a whole lot of other resources here, including some helpful AA stuff.
It's only Day 6 for me, but I am determined. I wanted to share 'cause "need to know" resonated with me. Can't tell you how any times I googled "symptoms of an alcoholic" before I let myself just be immersed in this site -- no labels necessary!